Departure Hidden Truths
by The Wax Lion
Summary: (MiL) Every side has a story. Complete


**Title:** Departure: Hidden Truths

**Disclaimer:** Don't own 'em.

**Category:** Michael/Liz

**Summary:** Every side has a story.

**Dedication:** To the author of **See Me** who inspired me to write my own version. Also, I don't touch much on the Candy nookie of the episode because I think Debbie already did a beautiful job.

* * *

"_Is it true?" _

She appeared at my door, dark brown eyes full of unshed tears ready to fall at his confirmation.

My silence answers what she was already afraid of and she sobs into the fabric of my shirt. I do my best to comfort her, my arms holding her slender frame.

This would be the last time I would ever hold her like this.

I ran my fingers through her glossy hair cupping her face in my hands and wiping away the tear-  
stained streaks on her cheeks.

"Will you stay with me?"

She looked up, her eyes glazed over with dread. Her soft pink lips parted but no words came out. She tried again this time Maria's name rolled off her tongue.

"But Liz—"

She hushed me, bringing a slender finger to my lips. "Michael, this is your last day on earth. You can just blast off back to Antar but I'll be here with Maria. And I don't want to ruin our friendship over this. It'll be best if she never knew."

I know there was nothing that could change her mind. Liz could be very stubborn when she wanted to be.

"So you want to just pretend this never happened?"

She leaned up and whispered in my ear, "I'll always remember."

The next thing I knew she pulled away, my once warm body now bitter without her touch, and headed toward the door. Not even half way she spun around on her heel and rushed back to plant one last kiss on my lips.

"To remember," she whispered pulling away, once again reaching for the doorknob.

She froze in the frame of the half open door, standing against the light of the apartment but fading into the darkness of dusk.

Crystalline tears spilled against her cheeks.

"Goodbye."

And then she was gone.

"I think we just took a huge step in human-alien relations." Maria's voice cut through my thoughts and I found myself back in the present. In bed with Maria.

_She's not Liz._

"I love you too…" I nearly choked on the words. Maria was a pretty girl, and I cared about her just not in the way that she wants.

"But I have to leave. Max, Isabel, and Tess and I are going home."

"Yeah, I know. Like eventually, right?"

_She doesn't get it. _

"We're leaving in a few hours. We have to, I have no choice. I don't want to leave you. But we both knew someday this would happen."

Her eyes teared up. _Please Maria, don't cry. _

A flash of Liz crying blurred my vision. .

"How much time do we have?"

I hesitated. "About an hour."

I watched the vibrant colors of the granolith whirl to life, time quickly ticking away, counting off the minutes until take-off.

I imagined Liz on the balcony of the Crashdown, her grandmothers' blanket wrapped against her petite body, sobs shaking her body.

"Max.... I can't go. Ever since we came out of the pods, I've been on some quest to figure out where I belong. I finally found home. The weird thing is, it's here, it's on earth."

_With Liz. _

"You of all people." I felt Max pull me into a hug, wishing me good luck.

"Take care of the others."

_Take care of Liz_ is what he really meant. I looked at my family one last time and crawled through the small crevice behind one of the pods, opening the pod chamber door into the daylight…

…and running straight into Liz, Maria and Kyle.

"Tess killed Alex!" Maria cried out first.

"What?" But before I could ask any further questions we rushed into the Pod Chamber to confront Tess.

"Max stop! It was Tess. Tess killed Alex. She mindwarped Alex and sent him to Las Cruces to decode the book, but he broke out of the mindwarp and she killed him."

I stood next to Liz, our arms lightly touching enough to send tingles down my arm.

Max looked confused at Liz's outburst but Kyle confirmed it for him.

"It's true, I was there, I witnessed it."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" He sounded scared, exasperated I couldn't blame him.

"Because she mindwarped me!" Kyle turned to look at Tess. "You lived in my home, you were like my sister!"

She looked distraught but I couldn't tell if that was because she felt sorry for everything or because her plan didn't work.

"How long?"

Anger was written all over Max's face.

I glanced at the alien clock now reaching 3 dots.

"About 3 minutes."  
"Everyone out." I looked at him shocked.

He expected us to leave him with that, that _murderer_?

"Max…"

I could have sworn I saw a vein on his forehead throbbing.

"Now!"

This time I didn't object. That was an order and I had to follow it. We left the Granolith, hesitant about Max being alone with Tess.

Liz was by my side the whole time and I wanted so much to grab her hand, to pull her against my body and run my fingers through her hair but Maria's presence reminded me that I couldn't. Not here.

We waited outside for Max and soon he and Isabel came running out, the trembling of the chamber under our feet.

Max grabbed Liz first and pulled her away from the dangerous cave and I followed his lead, grasping Maria's hand and went after them. My eyes never left her while we climbed down the rocks, her hand was intertwined with Max's and I held down a growl of jealously but hastily remembering the girl beside me I gripped Maria's hand tighter.

We finally reached the bottom of the rock formation and immediately Max pulled Liz into a tight embrace. I had no time to react when I felt Maria's arms around my waist because just then the Granolith broke free of the Chamber disintegrating it and spun right into space.

Tess was gone.

I watched as Max averted his eyes from the sky to look at Liz, her hair spilling against his fingers. The bastard was probably begging for forgiveness. She closed her eyes when Max leaned in to kiss her forehead, resting her head against his chest.

_Is she going to take him back? _

"You opened the door and you came out-- why?" Maria clutched my shirt reaching up to touch my neck. Her eyes filled with tears when she came to her own realization.

"You stayed for me."

I didn't answer.  
Max pulled away from Liz, glancing out into the desert. They looked so awkward together. Things could never go back to the way they were.

Isabel broke the silence, "What do we do now Max?"

"I have to save my son."


End file.
